Orcas Island 50k

For some reason I was nervous going into the Orcas Island 50k this year. Not sure why as my fitness has been improving steadily and I ran 50k two weeks ago and felt reasonable throughout. I guess this was my first real race of the year and this course can be challenging. I mean it IS challenging but can be VERY challenging if you are not ready. And in spite of the name of the organization that promotes this event (Rainshadow Running), it has been known to rain here. Just a little. This year we got a bonus.



But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

In the past I was the guy who didn't mind sleeping in his van (which I did the first time I ran this event) but I'm not that guy anymore. The second time I ran this event I woke up at a ridiculous hour so we could drive 90 minutes to catch the 60 minute ferry to make the 8:00 AM start. Yuck. I'm no longer that guy either. This year I booked a room at the Rosario Resort & Spa for Friday and Saturday night. I do love being pampered.

Another bonus about leaving in the middle of the day Friday is no traffic!

As I drove north from Seattle I started to see snow on the fields by the side of the road. By the time I was boarding the ferry in Anacortes, snow was landing on my windshield.



The Rosario resort is awesome.



The beds were comfy, there was a fridge and I could not wait to avail myself of the "spa" part of this resort come Saturday evening. I organized my gear, put powder in my bottles. watched some forgettable movie and hit the hay.



Saturday morning was luxurious! No early alarm or rain on the tent or anything. I basically filled my bottles, grabbed my gear bag, and drove a couple of miles to the start. Seeing as how I got there VERY EARLY, I had lots of time to 1) use a clean restroom prior to everyone else showing up and 2) take selfies.



Gear wise I was trying several firsts today.

• This was the first time I have ever worn a hat over a buff. I'm here to tell you it's an awesome combo. The buff keeps you warm and the brim of the hat keeps the rain out of your face and keeps the hood of your jacket from closing in around you and making you feel claustrophobic.
• This was the first time I have worn my new rain jacket. It was great! I kept it on the entire race and it was warm without making me too hot. Even when the sun threatened to come out while ascending the powerline climb. And when the rains started again and the temperature dropped I was glad it was still on.
• This was the first time I wore my Sealskinz socks during a race. This was a last minute decision but why oh why did I wait so long...?! These things are the BOMB. So comfy and so effective at doing what they are supposed to (keeping you warm and dry). I never even felt the slush or mud and when I pulled them off my feet were practically clean. AND they weren't little, pruned raisins! #winning

The lodge at Camp Moran steadily filled up and with perhaps 20 minutes to go I saw several friends. Thanks for saying hi Stephanie Gundel, Sudheer Maremanda, Michael Linscott, Steven Kent, Jon Lumb and Mitchell Burbick!



And then it was time to head outside into the rain.



I was dressed for success.



The first part of this race is a paved climb up Mount Constitution. We ran on the same road you drive up.



Not much to report here except that I felt fine! I was keeping my heart rate down, sipping from my bottle and chatting with first Sudheer and then Jon. Good times.

Once you summit it's all single and double track to the finish. Yes! These trails are incredible and so iconically Pacific Northwest. They are mostly soft, rooty and even with all the snow we were running through there were so many shades of green! I was having a good time. Here is the best my camera (with a wet lense) can do at conveying the scenery.



Along the way you pass by some just as iconic sights. For Orcas Island anyway. Like this.



And this.



As I ran I was struck by how good I was feeling! I wasn't setting the course on fire or anything but after a while I suspected I was moving close to my best effort here AND I was feeling really, really great while doing it. Nice.

Why was this? I suspect it was due to three things.

1. I came into this race without a time goal. I'm still ramping up my fitness and probably set the bar a bit too low meaning I was fitter than I thought I was. This resulted in me running a pace that was very sustainable.
2. I dressed perfectly. In my opinion this is underated because when I am too hot or too cold I just can't perform well. Today my gloves and socks were incredible and I didn't suffer from the domino effect of cold hands resulting in me not fueling properly which then results in me slowing down.
3. I fueled perfectly. And my fueling included Hammer Nutrition Fully Charged. This is just the second time I have used this product and I gotta say it works for me. It's much less an "upper" like Caffeine or Guarana (although it does contain Taurine), it just makes me feel alert and seems to compliment anything else I consume. Other than what I listed below, I literally only used water from two aid stations. Done.

After I got off the first climb and down the first big descent I was around way fewer people but every time I thought I was in no man's land I would catch someone else and slowly move on by. That's never a bad feeling.

After the first climb there were only two people that passed me. The first was Mitchel Burbick on the powerline climb. I was near him at the third aid station (which is at the base of the climb) and I exited first. He caught me in short order and after I pretended to keep up for a few minutes he hiked away from me. And between there and the finish he put 15 minutes into me.

The second was some guy I didn't know less than one mile from the finish.

After the powerline climb, which is famous for how steep and slippery it is, you bomb a descent that is always longer than I think it's going to be. At the bottom is an abrupt transition into another tough climb. In my humble opinion, it's this climb that usually kicks people in the balls. Everyone is expecting the powerline climb and then pow!

This was my first time using poles on the Orcas course and I am a huge convert. Ever since I used them at the Eiger Ultra Trail E101 I have been sold on their usefulness. I don't think they help me go faster at the time, but they sure save my back! Which, if I think about it, does actually help me go faster in the long run. And I'm not so ruined after an ultra. I love trekking poles!

After this second "wicked haad" climb is another long descent. I love descents! Especially today. The surface was soft, traction was fine, my shoes were comfy and I was feeling super. I arrived at the bottom (after catching yet two more people) pretty tired but still in great spirits and set off on the last two miles of rolling trail to the finish.

Perhaps one mile from the end I felt something in my left calf. At first I didn't think it was serious but in very short order (perhaps 120 seconds?) it went from a minor nuisance to THIS REALLY HURTS AND SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG. Dang. Maybe 100' from the last road crossing the other guy passed me.

I had intended to film myself crossing the finish line so as I limped along the last few hundred yards I dug my camera out of my running vest. Then I dropped it. No big deal - it's shock and water proof, but when I bent down to pick it up I realized my left calf could hardly engage. It hurt a lot. I walked up the last hill and tried to jog across the line. I almost fell down once from a stab of pain and Judging from what my friends said who were watching me I was limping pretty badly.



Other than my left calf, I was feeling great!



I managed to change my clothes and spent some time cheering on my friends as they finished. I even got the opportunity to pose with the overall winner, Masazumi Fujioka. He and his wife are incredibly nice people and I must have been living under a rock because this is the first time I have met them.



After my recovery drink (which is what you see in my bottle in the above picture), it was time for the extended recovery. This time I had something else in my bottle.



Let's just say the trip back to the Rosario Resort, into the shower, into bed and then back to the ferry and home the next day was v e r y s l o w. Bummer. I never did get the chance to experience the spa.

I booked the appointment with my Doctor and Physical Therapist first thing Sunday morning, while I was in bed actually. And good thing. Monday morning after a preliminary diagnoses from my PT I was getting an x-ray and guess what, I broke my leg.



Technically it's a stress fracture of my left Fibula but as you can see, the crack goes almost all the way through the bone.

How did this happen? No idea. I don't recall any event and I never fell down. My PT said, "shit happens" and people break this bone in all kinds of crazy ways. Of course I will get a bone density scan and I am talking to my doctor about Vitamin D but I suspect my density is fine and this was just an accident. It is in fact the first bone I have ever broken.

I'm super happy with my run! I really felt great throughout. I learned some valuable lessons about clothing and fueling which is all good. And learning to exercise patience while recovering is also never bad... I just selfishly would rather exercise!

My best guess as to the recovery process is this.

• Two weeks of nothing.
• Assuming my leg has stopped hurting by then I can start to cycle and swim.
• Running is probably six weeks off.
• And then I need to regain strength and fitness...

Here are all my pictures and videos.

Results

• 1st - Men 50-59
• 27th - Overall
• official results

Nutrition (before)

• Nothing. The race started at 8:00 AM so I slept as late as possible, drove to the start and had some herbal tea.

Nutrition (during)

• 4 24 oz. bottles, each containing 2 scoops Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem, 2 Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes, 3/4 scoop of Hammer Nutrition Fully Charged
• 5 Hammer Nutrition Gels

Nutrition (after)

• 3 scoops Hammer Nutrition Recoverite
• Water
• Pizza
• Beer

Gear

• Topo Athletic MT-2 shoes
• Sealskinz Hydrostop socks
• Old Navy Active Line tights & shorts
• Craft long sleeve baselayer
• Hammer Nutrition long sleeve running shirt
• Patagonia Storm Racer Jacket
• Sealskinz Ultragrip Touchscreen gloves
• Buff
• Hammer Nutrition Trucker Hat
• Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest 3.0
• Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z Trekking Poles

Capitol Peak MegaFatAss 50k

Wow. I have ridden my mountain bike on these trails in Capitol Forest for years but until today I have never run on them. They were great! It didn't hurt at all that we had fantastic conditions as in not too cold, no rain and the trails were incredibly dry for this time of year. That said, the organizers did alter the course today as there was a lot of snow on Capitol Peak. For that reason we never climbed to the top and the course was very runable. 100% runable to be honest. The Capitol Peak MegaFatAss is an iconic NW trail run. These trails are like Tiger Mountain for people that live further south.

Lucky for me Dave Swoish showed up. Turns out we were very compatible today and had the same goals so we ran 99% of this together. I love company. Especially when it's good.



Driving in Seattle sucks. But when it's at 6:00 AM on a weekend you get where you are going lickity split. Google Maps told me the trip would take 1:30 and I got here in about 1:15? Let's just say that after I got my number I headed back to the car and shut my eyes.

This was my first long run of the year so I took along all the gear. Even my trekking poles. It made me smile when I realized I was the ONLY PERSON WITH POLES. And a lot of the fast runners didn't even bother with a pack. Oh well, I have not worn my pack on months so it was good to get used to it again.

I got out of the car with perhaps 10 minutes to spare. I did some leg swings, a couple of squats and walked over to the start. One advantage of showing up ridiculously early is you can park in a very convenient location. There wasn't much fanfare, just a short announcement by the race director.



And then we were off.



We ran. And ran. And RAN. After about 10 miles with zero walking Dave turns to me and says, "I guess this is a running race..." No kidding. Without Capitol Peak in the mix this course was - assuming you were fit enough - entirely runable. Rats. Today was going to be my longest run in ages (maybe six months?) and I'm not a great runner in the first place. I usually look forward to the hiking breaks.

With all this running I didn't have the chance to take too many pictures. But I did get some video of Dave.



And of the top of the course.



And of us reaching the finish.



Okay, I did get a few pictures. Since this was a Fat Ass event there was minimal support but there was one water only aid station about half way through the 25k loop. Here I am at said aid station pointing to two things I did NOT need all day. My trekking poles.



And of Dave and I enjoying some butternut squash soup at the finish.



The race was so runable I had to make up sections to walk on our second lap just to give myself a break. Truthfully, I was pretty tired by then which helped. Every time I would transition to hiking Dave would say something like, "Oh yeah, that's a hill."

This course was fun! And FAST. And soft. And scenic. And very well marked. Too bad weather like what we had this year is an anomaly. There were roughly 200 people signed up, about 80 for the 50k and about 120 for the 25k. Way to go Oly Trail Runners.

I saw several friends. Arthur Martineau, Van Phan, good times. Oh, and a certain elite couple were also in attendance today. Yep, they won.

I can already tell that two themes will persist in my posts throughout 2017, how awesome my new shoe sponsor is and how well the products from my nutrition sponsor work. :)

Today I wore my Topo Athletic MT-2 shoes on trails for the first time and they excelled. ALL my Topo shoes are incredibly comfortable but they do so many other things well too.

• They hold my foot back so my toes don't slam into the front on descents.
• The laces never com untied! The double knots you see below are completely unnecessary and are just from habit.
• The tongue never moves around, I LOVE that.

Just one day before this run I got some Hammer Nutrition Fully Charged so I figured why not try it out...? It's received such good reviews and with so many races coming up on my calendar I only had so much time to experiment with things. It was awesome! My "race bottle" has thus evolved.

Each 24 oz. bottle that I carry now contains the following.

• 2 scoops of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem
• 2 Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes
• half a scoop of Hammer Nutrition Fully Charged

I love liquid food. It's easier on my stomach and when I can get my calories and stay hydrated at the same time it's one less thing to think about. As long as I keep sipping, I'm good to go. And with Endurolytes I get all my electrolytes and with Fully Charged I get my race day boost too. Done and done.

Here are all my pictures and video.

Results

• 2nd - Men 50-59
• 13th - Overall
• Official Results

Gear

• Topo Athletic MT-2 shoes
• Injinji trail running socks
• Old Navy Active Line tights & shorts
• Craft long sleeve base layer
• Hammer Nutrition long sleeve running shirt
• gloves
• buff
• Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest 3.0
• Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z Trekking Poles

Nutrition

• Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem
• Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes
• Hammer Nutrition Fully Charged
• Hammer Nutrition Gel
• Hammer Nutrition Recoverite

Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k relay

At the annual Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival put on by the Seattle Running Club trail conditions were perfect! That's what you get when it's dry all week prior to the race AND it's cold enough to freeze any existing mud. Course records were broken in pretty much every division.



This has NOT always been the case. The weather this time of year in the greater Seattle area is a crap shoot. More often than not this event is a mud bog. Once it was a sheet of ice. Once it was so windy they almost canceled and finally said, "run at your own risk". Nice.

This event is unique compared to most trail runs in many ways. Bridle Trails State Park is right in a city, namely Kirkland. It also starts at 3:00 PM so if you are running more than 10 miles you will be doing most of it in the dark. This was my first "race" of the year. I put race in quotes because running fast is still a way off for me so this was a race only in the sense that my effort was timed but we did not take it too seriously.

I ran with Bill Huggins on a 2-person relay team. Bill is one of the guys that got me into trail running in the first place. We've been out in the woods together a few times recently and it's been really fun reconnecting.

The hardest part of this race was getting back out there after you had fully cooled down! You just could not stay warm sitting still for 35 minutes so I would pile on the clothing, hang out by the propane heaters and basically be super cold when Bill would show up after his lap. I'm SO glad I had the foresight to bring dry tops for each lap. Being able to change out of a sweaty shirt each time I finished my run was a dream.

My first two 5-mile laps didn't require a light but I was pushing it the last mile of my second lap and only managed it because I knew the course. Heck, it was fun. And then running with a light on my last lap was fun too! I always feel faster at night when I'm running/skiing/whatever although the reality is I'm usually slower.

Thank goodness there was no wind! That meant once I got moving I didn't really need that much clothing. It was like jumping into a cold lake, once you are in it, you are mostly okay. Mostly...

The gun went off and the leaders were promptly out of sight. Based on their time, they averaged around 6:00 pace start to finish. Nice. It took me about one mile to find my position in the pack and then being fairly fresh, I started to look for carrots. Up ahead I spotted what appeared to be a mother/daughter combo and figured that should be easy to catch. Two miles later I was still chasing them! In this photo you can see them and me WAY in the background... I'm the last runner in the red shirt.



That girl looks like she's 12! At least I was able to pass an eight year old boy around mile two. Booyah!

Another unique aspect of this race is it takes place on equestrian trails. And around this park, it seems like everyone has a horse (or two or three). I encountered four during my three laps. The first three were no problem but the last one was exciting. The owner was doing a great job of walking the horse way over to the side of the trail (even though they have the right of way) and so as I ran past going the other direction I scooted by way over on the other side of the trail. I had just passed a woman before I saw this horse and seconds after passing I heard a lot of rustling leaves and a scream. I guess the horse got startled and the woman had understandably freaked out a little. Incredibly the event photographer captured this right before the horse acted up.



Once I knew this woman was okay it made me laugh. Maybe out of nervousness.

The photography coverage was awesome! Here I am on my second lap with my light turned off.



A nice thing about events that use a loop course is aid stations are easy to manage. Since this is in a park with permanent structures, the aid "hut" was a tiny log cabin right by the start/finish. After I finished my lazst lap I stopped by for a snack while I waited for Bill to bring us home.



And here is the finishing chute from the runner's perspective.



I got a new shoe sponsor for 2017 and I just can't stop raving about how comfortable My Topo shoes are. So great to get support from exactly what you want to use.

My splits were about as I figured they would be, each lap was slower. :)
Lap #1 38:25 / 7:23
Lap #2 40:28 / 7:47
Lap #3 41:55 / 8:04

But my fitness is coming back! I won't be slow too much longer.

Here are all my pictures.

Results

• 8th - 50k Doubles 3:54:42
• official results

Gear

• Topo Athletic Ultrafly shoes
• The Balanced Athlete socks
• Old Navy Active Wear tights
• Old Navy Active Wear shorts
• Craft long sleeve base layer
• Hammer Nutrition short sleeve Running Shirt
• Buff
• Gloves
• Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp

Nutrition

• Hammer Nutrition HEED
• Hammer Nutrition Gel
• Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes

pacing Lucca at the Seattle Marathon

Yes! This is the FIFTH time I have had the privilege of pacing my sister Lucca at the Seattle Marathon. If I'm not mistaken three of those runs resulted in a Marathon PR for Lucca... surely pacers deserve some of the credit? :)



And so I don't get accused of hogging all the glory, Lucca's friend Robert Ruvkun (pictured here) helped out on at least three of these too. And Lucca knows how to work. HARD.

This year the weather was threatening to suck! We've seen sleet and sun during previous editions and two days out it was looking lots like the wetter variety but then a window showed up and come race day it was dry and in the mid 40s. I'll take it! We got drizzled on some during the last 45 minutes but it was not bad and didn't get any colder. I never needed to put on more clothes.

It seems like I get injured a lot and I have only been able to run the entire race with Lucca twice. This year I was recovering from a torn calf muscle and with only four runs under my belt post injury it seemed silly to risk re-injuring myself so I had to settle for the last 10 miles. But, this course is super close to our house so I was able to see Lucca at the start, at mile 4, mile 8 and then run with her from mile 16. Not so bad.

Getting to the start required some creativity but not as much as feared. All the roads on the course were not yet fully closed so I was able to scoot (literally, I was on my scooter) to the start with no issues and meet Lucca to hand off some gels and give her a last minute drink. I also dropped off my own clothing so I would have something dry to put on after we finished.

Getting home was slightly more exciting. Now all the roads on the course were fully closed forming this giant bubble you had to circumnavigate. After figuring out that Royal Brougham does not go through by the stadiums, and getting stuck behind a cargo train further south, I opted to get on I-90 for half a mile so that I could exit on Rainier. Thank goodness my scooter can do 50 mph and there were very few cars on the freeway this morning.

I changed my clothes and grabbing drinks, gels and my camera and walked up to the I-90 Express Lanes. Which is an awesome place to spectate this race from! Here are the Marathon leaders at mile four.



Spotting Lucca was thankfully pretty easy so connecting with her as she exited the tunnel was not a problem, she gave me her gloves and I gave her a drink. Then I had a front row seat for watching the leaders as they returned. When Lucca came running back we connected again, I gave her some gels for the run around Seward Park, another drink and headed home. This time I was going to have over an hour to wait.

Finally it was time to pace! Here I am looking very fresh (because I was) on Lake WA Blvd waiting for my sister.



Lucca looked good! She is such a steady runner and it's pretty tough to tell when she is suffering. Unlike me who emotes every ache and pain. :( She pointed out a runner in a red event shirt that she had been running with for a while so we used him as a carrot/pacer. It worked pretty well and we might have even dipped below her target pace for a couple of miles. I also spotted a woman in teal that we could use if this guy sped up or faltered.

Lucca is usually strong on the climbs. Today looked like no exception. We passed red event shirt guy and teal shirt woman on the first climb just north of Madrona Dr but on the E Galer St climb she finally started to show the effort.



Up until this time we were solidly between the 3:40 and 3:45 pacers but going up E Madison St the 3:45 group and teal shirt woman slowly passed us. But not red event shirt guy, I suspect this hill was the nail in his proverbial coffin. Yeah for small, selfish victories! :)

ASIDE - Lucca's Marathon PR was 3:45:01 so her goal today was to run sub 3:45.

Lucca ran a super descent and we had almost closed the gap to the 3:45 pacer by the time we turned left off of Lake WA Blvd and started climbing up Interlaken Blvd but it was just a little too much today. Once again we had to let them go and they slowly eased up the road.

My father always meets Lucca on Interlaken. It does not matter how crappy the weather is or that he only gets to see Lucca for 10 seconds, every year he's there. This year was no exception and we both got in a high five and a lightning hug before we ran into the woods.

Shortly thereafter we were joined by Robert.

Robert is awesome! He was a student in Lucca's Physician Assistant program at the UW and they have stayed in touch and he runs. And he loves to pace too! Robert has a great sense of humor and is also a reasonably accomplished action photographer with his iPhone. Always a plus. Meeting him always injects new life and energy which is much appreciated at mile 20+ believe you me.

We still thought there was a chance as Lucca's chip time did not coincide with the clock time and she battled on. That's another thing about Lucca, she never throws in the towel (that I have seen anyway), she still puts in a solid effort even if Plan A is not going to happen. So impressive.

Running south on Boylston Ave E can be a heart breaker. As usual there was a slight headwind here and I was so wishing I could give Lucca a little push or something, anything to help her speed up.



Lucca kept at it! She ran an awesome descent crossing I-5 and down Republican St. If only the route kept going downhill... but as anyone who has run this event will tell you, it does not. Somehow Lucca still managed a solid climb up Mercer St and into the finish.



Here I am at the finish - fresh!



Here here is Lucca calmly checking her watch.



What...?! Hadn't she just pushed super hard? And thrown up (just a little) after crossing the finish line? Some people just have that smile that won't quit.

In the end Lucca only missed her target time by 1:11 and got her 2nd fastest time.



Talking to her this effort was much harder than her PR so on a good day, and perhaps with some Marathon-specific training like speed work she could still crush 3:45. I'm sure of it. And I hope to be there on that day.

Congratulations Lucca! You are an inspiration and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to run with you.

Here are all my pictures and videos.

Nutrition

• Hammer HEED
• Hammer Gel
• Hammer Endurolytes

Gear

• Topo Athletic Magnifly shoes
• Freaking Old Navy tights and shorts! I know! It was Black Friday...
• The North Face long sleeve base layer
• Hammer Nutrition long sleeve running shirt
• Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest 3
• Garmin fenix 3